Manufacture This

The blog of the Alliance for American Manufacturing

As His Campaign Rises, Kasich Talks Up Manufacturing

John Kasich is familiar with the import crisis facing American manufacturing workers. | Photo by Gage Skidmore

But we're gonna need more details, governor!

For much of the presidential campaign, Donald Trump has been the lone voice among Republican candidates calling attention to effect of unfair trade on American workers.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich is getting in on the game.

Fresh off an invigorating second-place finish in New Hampshire (only 16 percent of the vote in a crowded field, but still), Kasich busted down to South Carolina and toured a steel mill just outside of Charleston, telling workers there he’d “break some glass, if necessary” to support the American steel industry.

Kasich is the governor of a Midwestern state with a heavy manufacturing presence, so he’s well aware of the dire import problems that Ohio steelworkers face. And, in all fairness, Kasich’s visit to the Charleston factory isn’t the first time he’s brought up trade on the trail. Here he is back in January, talking about dumping during a GOP debate:

This kind of talk is beginning to give his campaign a little bit of steam – and that might do him so good in industry-heavy South Carolina. Now he needs to back it up. Kasich has got plenty of policy positions staked out on his website, but not many of them are very manufacturing- and trade-specific.

In the clip above, Kasich cites his support for NAFTA and the TPP, then says we need “open trade, but fair trade.” Okay ... please expand on those thoughts, governor!